Griddled courgette, peach, mozzarella and basil
This salad is summer on a plate! Courgettes and peaches are in season at the same time and they are just so good together, especially with handfuls of basil. If your peaches are nice and ripe you can skip griddling them and just serve them fresh in the salad.
The coriander seed dressing is inspired by an Ottolenghi dish that is served at his restaurant Nopi - it is served with burrata (which is basically mozzarella stuffed with cream) and then whatever fruit is in season - citrus in the winter and stone fruit in the summer. It’s an iconic dish and worth seeking out if you ever happen to be in London looking for somewhere delicious to eat!
We really like Toonsbridge mozzarella which is made in West Cork you can get it from specialist cheesemongers (or online). But if you can’t get hold of that then I think the Galbani brand of mozzarella (which we buy in Sainsbury’s) is pretty good and definitely more flavourful that other supermarket mozzarella we’ve tried.
We also often make a similar dish with fresh tomatoes, griddled peaches, basil, mozzarella and then simply dressed with good olive oil, salt and a sprinkling of toasted pumpkin seeds.
Serves 4 - 6 as a side or 2-3 as a main meal
300g courgettes
2 ripe but firm peaches (or nectarines)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon lemon juice
A pinch of chilli flakes (I use mild ones like pul biber)
125g fresh mozzarella
A handful of basil leaves
2 nasturtium flowers (optional)
Salt and pepper
Heat up a griddle pan over a medium high heat. If you don’t have a griddle pan you can do this is a heavy bottomed frying pan, you just won’t have the griddle marks.
Slice the courgettes into 1cm thick rounds. Put in a large bowl with ½ tablespoon olive oil and mix well. Cook the courgette slices on the griddle pan until slightly charred on one side. Turn them over and cook for a couple of minutes more until softening a bit but still holding their shape. Put the cooked courgette slices in another bowl and season with salt and pepper.
Cut the peaches in half, remove the stone and cut into thick wedges. I cut each half into five or 6 pieces. Put them in the first oily bowl that you used for the courgettes, add another ½ tablespoon olive oil and mix. Cook the peaches on the griddle pan until starting to char (this will only take a minute or two), then turn them over and cook for another minute. Put the peaches in the same bowl as the courgettes.
Toast the coriander seeds in a dry pan over a medium heat for three minutes, until starting to smell delicious. In a small bowl mix together the toasted coriander seeds, remaining tablespoon olive oil, lemon juice and chilli flakes. Pour any juices that have gathered in the bottom of the bowl of peaches and courgettes into the dressing. Season with a pinch of salt and mix well.
Arrange the larger leaves on basil on a platter, add half the courgettes and peaches and then half the mozzarella. Drizzle over half the coriander seed dressing and then add the remaining courgettes, peaches and mozzarella. Arrange the remaining basil on top, tucking it into the vegetables. Drizzle over the rest of the dressing and garnish with nasturtium petals.
Serve slightly warm with bread to mop up the juices.
